On Saturday Oct. 29 the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse Eagles faced off against The University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh on Senior Day, defeating the Titans 5-2, and ending conference match-ups undefeated.

Before the game, the team recognized three UWL seniors, Hayley Stephens, Rachel Rogahn, and Maddie Granos. “When they arrived in the UWL soccer program we had one WIAC championship and zero NCAA appearances in school history and they will leave with two of each” noted Head Coach Jason Murphy.

As for the game, the Eagles quickly fell behind as UWO scored with only 24 seconds on the clock. “Oshkosh came out and caught us off balance in the first minutes of the game, but we were able to collect ourselves and stay composed” UWL Junior Natalie Herzog commented.

“Senior day is always tough, and we clearly were not ready at the open kick and got behind quickly,” added Murphy, “But the maturity and quality of our players come through as we were able to get control of the game with our possession.”

UWL tied the game soon after with an unassisted goal from UWL Freshman Kaitlyn Villars.

After several scoring attempts from the Eagles, Villars scored again with an assist from UWL Junior Margaret Harings, making it a one-point game at half.

After the half time break, Villars became the first UWL player since 2014 to score three goals in a game when she broke through the Oshkosh defense to give the Eagles a two-point lead. The goal was another assist from Harings.

After a goal from the Titans to make it 3-2, Harings scored her ninth goal of the season with an assist from Villars to improve the lead once again. UWL Junior Olivia Karegeannes finished the scoring with the assist from UWL Freshman Hayley Hargroder.

With this win, the Eagles take on the WIAC Championship Semifinal with home field advantage.

“We have another week coming up where we need to prepare ourselves to be our best on Thursday. I can honestly say that I believe we are playing our best soccer right now and are looking forward to the post-season,” said Murphy, “We know it will be difficult but I am excited to see what this group can do.”

The Eagles play in the WIAC Championship Semifinal this Thursday, Nov. 2 at La Crosse.